The
Economist , May 10
(posted
Saturday, May 10)
The
cover story and lead
editorial predict the automobile industry's collapse. Overcapacity will
benefit consumers as prices fall, but the world economy will shake as auto
makers go broke. Another editorial argues that the United States should repeal laws
prohibiting foreign ownership of broadcast companies. The reason: The Internet
has already made electronic media international. A British election post-mortem predicts a bloody internecine fight over the Tory
Party's leadership.
New
Republic , May 26
(posted
Friday, May 9)
"The
Selling of Dr. Death" details how Jack Kevorkian and his lawyer/publicist have
masked Kevorkian's most horrific exploits. Kevorkian has helped numerous people
without physical illness commit suicide, but compliant journalists haven't
reported this. Singled out for blame is the New York Times , whose
Kevorkian reporter also writes op-eds praising the man. A piece says that Ralph
Reed picked the right time to ditch the Christian Coalition: An FEC
investigation, falling membership, and disillusionment with Reed's pragmatism
are undermining its power. The editorial deplores the balanced-budget agreement
for not cutting entitlements. It "postpones [the] day of reckoning."
Vanity Fair , June 1997
(posted
Friday, May 9)
Software
upstart Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison is profiled. He comes across as a
superannuated adolescent: hypermacho, sexist, and desperate for attention (but
brilliant). His quest to defeat Microsoft (see Time below) is portrayed
as an unhealthy obsession. A long article chronicles the turmoil at ABC News.
David Westin has been anointed Roone Arledge's successor as head of the news
division, but Arledge seems reluctant to cede his power. The legendary Arledge
is depicted as detached, lazy, and old. Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the cover.
Why? Because he's turning 50.
New
York Times Magazine , May 11
(posted
Thursday, May 8)
The cover
article recounts Vaclav Havel's many troubles, but concludes that he is still
the world's "poet of democracy." In the past two years, the Czech president has
been widowed, lost a lung to illness, married an unpopular actress, engaged in
a nasty real-estate feud with his brother, and watched rival politicians
demolish his vision of Czech society. Even so, the Czechs still revere Havel as
their philosopher-king. A story describes how Egypt's left-wing intellectuals
and professionals still demonize Israel: This civic opposition dooms any chance
of real peace between the two nations. Also, a spooky photo of TWA Flight 800's
reconstructed remains, which have been pieced together in a New York airplane
hangar.
Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report , May 12
(posted
Tuesday, May 6)
Guilt-inducing cover stories
accuse parents of shortchanging their children by working too hard. (Both
stories are pegged to Arlie Hochschild's new book, The Time Bind: When Work
Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work , which argues that home and work have
changed places: Home is now stressful; work is now relaxing. See Slate's
review.) Newsweek 's "The Myth of Quality Time" says that kids need more
sustained, structured attention than workaholic parents give them. It notes
that few parents take advantage of "family friendly" corporate policies.
U.S. News ' "Lies
Parents Tell Themselves About Why They Work" is harsher, berating parents
for sacrificing their kids to their jobs. It argues that most families don't
need two incomes, and that day care is a lousy substitute for parental care.
Parents, especially fathers, ignore family friendly policies because they don't
want to hurt their careers.
Newsweek credits Tony
Blair's election victory to a tightly run campaign, self-destructing Tories,
and an endorsement by Rupert Murdoch's 3.9 million circulation tabloid, the
Sun . An article on the elimination of affirmative action at the
University of Texas Law School notes that only 3 percent of this year's
admitted students are black and Hispanic, down from more than 12 percent last
year.
Newsweek previews the
summer blockbusters: The Lost World , Men in Black , and
Hercules should do well; Titanic may sink.
U.S.
News reveals that, since Waco, the FBI has been cooperating with
militia leaders to defuse confrontations with anti-government groups. The FBI
and militia leaders worked together during the Republic of Texas and Freemen
standoffs.
Time , May 12
(posted
Tuesday, May 6)
The
second consecutive medical cover. The profile of hirsute New Age physician Andrew Weil
criticizes his anecdotal approach to bee-venom therapy, acupuncture, and the
like, but concludes that most of his recommendations--low-fat diet, exercise,
vitamins--are medically sound. The article recounts Weil's checkered history:
As a Harvard undergraduate, he exposed Timothy Leary's LSD experiments, but he
later did research concluding that marijuana is harmless. A story says that Zairian rebel Laurent Kabila may be a new
kind of African leader: Like his mentor, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni,
Kabila seems to favor order and free markets (though not democracy). An
article on Oracle CEO Larry Ellison (a "ninja warrior")
claims that he represents the strongest challenge to Microsoft. If his alliance
with Sun Microsystems and Netscape produces a cheap, simple network computer
(NC), Microsoft could be in trouble.
The
New Yorker , May 12
(posted
Tuesday, May 6)
A long
article on Hong Kong predicts that Chinese-installed leader Tung Chee-hwa will
model the colony on Singapore: a commercial empire without political freedom.
It points out that Britain's Hong Kong record is hardly spotless: Britain
suppressed democracy there until the '80s. Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft's
"company provocateur," is profiled. A paleontologist, chef, physicist, and
software programmer (not to mention Slate columnist), Myhrvold is Bill Gates'
"favorite geek," the person who sets Microsoft's research priorities. The
article asks, but does not answer, why Microsoft and Myhrvold almost overlooked
the importance of the Internet. An article marvels at the Clinton
administration's ennui: The second-term president has no agenda, and entire
departments (notably the Justice Department) seem to be paralyzed.
Weekly Standard , May 12
(posted
Tuesday, May 6)
The "No
Deal" cover package condemns the budget agreement because it raises spending on
domestic programs. The editorial urges Republicans in Congress to "rebel"
against the deal. An article condemns the budget as soft on defense: It cuts
military spending to about 3 percent of gross domestic product, only half its
Cold War level. A piece argues that the Communications Decency Act should be
upheld even though it's an ineffective mess. The reason? It sends the right
message: that children should be protected from "the spirit-destroying
coarseness of this culture." An article mocks the Volunteerism Summit as an
event designed to make politicians and celebrities feel good about
themselves.
Mother Jones , June 1997
(posted
Tuesday, April 29)
Mother Jones catalogs
the top 400 individual political contributors of the 1995-96 election
cycle. Topping the list is Bernard Schwartz, CEO of the defense contractor
Loral, who gave a total of $661,000 to both parties. Other high rollers
include: publishing tycoon Dirk Ziff (No. 6), who gave $436,000 to Democrats
and slept in the Lincoln Bedroom; oil baron David Koch (No. 10), who gave
$339,000 to Republicans and Libertarians to advance his anti-regulation agenda;
Gail Zappa (No. 20), widow of Frank, who gave $292,650 to Democrats; and Steve
Jobs (No. 126), who gave $150,000 to Democrats. A sidebar raps Democratic fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe for his
aggressive tactics. Also, a surprisingly favorable article about the Christian Coalition's campaign to recruit blacks
and help rebuild burned black churches: This seems to be a truly sincere effort
to atone for a history of white Christian racism.
--Compiled by David Plotz and the editors of Slate .
